Central for Public Mental Health (CPMH) held an Online Lecture “Being a Psychological First Aid: Concepts and Practice” which consisted of two sessions on 11 and 25 February 2022. Present as the same speaker in the first two sessions, namely Nurul Kusuma Hidayati, M.Psi., and Wirdatul Anisa, M.Psi., Psychologist. “Online lectures have actually raised this topic for the umpteenth time (Psychological First Aid) and why we brought this topic up again because it can embrace many partners and the wider community,” said Nurul at the beginning of the event.
In the first session the discussion on Psychological First Aid (PFA) was limited to concepts, then in the second session the PFA discussion would emphasize practice. “I mean, practically what are we going to do when we provide initial psychological support,” explained Wirdatul. According to WHO, PFA is a psychological recovery effort given to people affected by a disaster or crisis.
PFA is a form of psychosocial intervention. “If we talk about psychosocial, then there is a pyramid of interventions that we need to discuss,” explained Wirdatul. The first level on a pyramid of psychosocial interventions relates to the fulfillment of basic needs and a sense of security. Then the next level relates to how the environment, community, or surrounding groups can provide psychosocial support so that survivors can re-engage in daily activities. The third layer relates to non-specialist support, one of which is PFA and at the top layer, psychosocial intervention consists of specialist support related to further treatment.
In the second session, the PFA discussion continued with its practice and application. According to WHO, PFA is carried out based on the same principles, namely look, listen, and link.
The first PFA principle is look, which assigns first aiders to look closely, to look further, or to examine the vicinity of the location or survivors. “While examining which people have a very serious stress reaction, consider which individuals most need to receive PFA,” explains Nurul.
The next PFA principle is listening which consists of initiating contact with victims, asking their needs and concerns, and listening and helping them to calm down. Then, the last principle of PFA is links. Some things that can be done are accessing information through available services, connecting with protection or other support agencies, accessing care and treatment, and contacting close relatives and trusted people.
The event took place interactively with participants who could ask questions in the middle of the speaker delivering the material to build two-way communication. In addition, the organizers also allowed participants to turn on the camera to further liven up the atmosphere of the online lecture.